Daschle Says He Will Vote for Energy Bill

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle is ready to support the broad energy bill and will oppose attempts to scuttle it by a filibuster, one of the senator's aides said Wednesday.

The decision casts doubt on whether opponents can succeed in blocking the bill through a filibuster over a dispute involving the gasoline additive MTBE, which has been found to contaminate drinking water supplies.

A spokesman for Daschle, Dan Pfeiffer, said the South Dakota senator will vote for ending debate on the bill, overcoming a filibuster, as long as senators are given time to adequately debate the legislation.

"There is a lot of legitimate concern about the bill on both sides of the aisle ... (but) he will support it because of ethanol and other provisions in the bill on energy efficiency," Pfeiffer said.

On Wednesday night, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., and other Republicans set a parliamentary vote for Friday for ending the debate. That would force a final up-or-down decision on the 1,100-page bill.

Republicans hope to finish the bill and send it to President Bush before the end of the week. The House passed the energy legislation by a wide margin on Tuesday.

Earlier in the day, Daschle made known his support of the bill in an interview with a Yankton, S.D., radio station, WNAX, in which he said that while the legislation wasn't perfect, it was good news for ethanol and other renewable fuels.

South Dakota is a major producer of corn-based ethanol. The bill calls for doubling ethanol production to 5 billion gallons a year by 2012.

As Senate debate began Wednesday on the GOP-written bill, some Republican lawmakers prepared to break ranks in a showdown over a provision that would shield makers of MTBE for product liability lawsuits charging that it is polluting water supplies.

A number of Democrats, joined by a handful of Republicans, have been considering a filibuster over the issue, but it's uncertain how much support they have. The stalling procedure can be turned back by 60 votes.

"It's neck-and-neck, it's a horse race," Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said of the informal vote count. "We'll certainly lose some Democrats and we'll certainly pick up some Republicans."

Daschle's support has been seen as crucial to the bill's passage. Daschle said in the radio interview that he was disappointed with the MTBE waiver but that he would support an end to debate as long as senators were given adequate time to debate the issue and the bill.

Senate approval is the last hurdle to getting the bill to President Bush, who is eager to sign it.

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., who opposes the bill because of the MTBE waiver and other issues said, "I've been for ethanol for 21 years, and I just can't do this. That's a bargain with the devil."

Some Republicans, especially those from New Hampshire, Maine and Arizona have protested the industry subsidies in the bill as well as the MTBE liability provision.

"If a person cannot live in their home, is that not a health hazard?" Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., angrily asked Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., on the Senate floor. The bill would undermine New Hampshire's lawsuit against 22 oil companies over MTBE water contamination.

They complained the bill subsidizes Midwest coal-fired power plants whose air pollution drifts over the Northeast and will not fix problems that led to the Aug. 14 blackout.

"It is biased against the Northeast," said Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine. "This bill does not offer the balanced energy policy that America needs."

But Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., called it "truly the best bill this Congress can produce. ... We all have something to gain from this compromise."

The bill resulted from 2 1/2 months of sometimes bitter negotiations between House and Senate Republicans and almost no input from Democrats. It would provide $23 billion in tax incentives and includes measures to produce more coal, oil, natural gas and nuclear power.

Return to the Stop the Energy Bill!
Return to the Energy Justice Network Homepage

http://www.energyjustice.net/energybill/nytdaschle.html